CNN CEO says he will stay on under new ownership
Mark Thompson will continue leading the news network under Skydance, easing employee anxiety about the new ownership.
Mark Thompson, the CEO of CNN, said Monday that he would stay on as chair and editor-in-chief of the news network under the ownership of Skydance and its CEO, David Ellison.
In a memo to CNN employees, Thompson said that he had reached the decision after discussions with executives at Skydance, including Ellison, who are closing their $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, this week.
“Having now spoken to them at length on the topic, I have real confidence that they both understand and will fully support the principle and practice of the kind of independent news that CNN has always stood for,” Thompson wrote in the memo.
Thompson, the former CEO of the New York Times, has made CNN’s digital subscription business a focus. The company’s new leaders have seen that strategy “and are as excited about it as we are,” Thompson said.
Thompson will be reporting to both Ellison and his co-chief executive, Ynon Kreiz, according to a person familiar with the combined company’s intended leadership structure. He said in his memo that he would have “the same responsibilities and prerogatives that I have now.”
Thompson has been in discussions with Ellison to renew his contract in recent days. In his memo, Thompson said some details about the integration of CNN with Skydance, which owns CBS News, had “yet to be finalized.” His current contract expires in the spring.
Thompson’s decision to stay at CNN will alleviate concerns at the network, where uncertainty about the new ownership has inflamed anxieties. Some worried about the prospect of CNN leaders having to report to Bari Weiss, the outspoken critic of mainstream media who runs CBS News. Anderson Cooper, CNN’s most famous anchor, told colleagues that he did not want to work for her.
On Monday, Skydance said that Thompson and Weiss would both serve on a “CEO news executive leadership team,” running their respective networks.
There are still major issues for Thompson and Ellison to sort out. Unlike CNN, large parts of CBS News are unionized, posing an obstacle to integrating the two networks. Both channels also have their own shows, star anchors, and extensive news gathering operations, so combining the two could result in layoffs.
Thompson said in his memo that substantive negotiations with Skydance about his position began only last week, after Paramount’s leaders settled an antitrust lawsuit with state attorneys general that aimed to block the merger. That settlement created an “editorial independence board” designed to safeguard the editorial integrity of CNN and CBS News.
While Thompson acknowledged that many at CNN have “trepidations about this moment,” he said that he was “in a very positive frame of mind” about the deal.
“I really do believe we’ll be working alongside a team who don’t just have real vision and real energy, but real values as well,” Thompson wrote.
This article originally appeared in the New York Times.
